1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed generally to a visual voting method. More specifically, the present invention is directed to a method which processes an image containing a subject to generate a referendum result which is then linked to a referendum and a voter.
2. Background Art
Organized surveys and referendums have been in use for a long time for generating statistics. Statistics can be unreliable since the data source (e.g., the organization collecting the data, the characteristics of the voters and the circumstances surrounding the survey or referendum) is rarely disclosed or even specified. Therefore, statistical data is often not regarded as meaningful or reliable unless it is generated or collected by a well-respected source. Statistical data may also be tampered with and the results may be forged. The cost of correcting or auditing a survey or referendum can be cost prohibitive. Forged referendum results or inaccurate reporting of statistical data have become even more prevalent with internet technology and social networks as the ease with which statistical data is disclosed or published has greatly improved. Conventionally, the identity of voters of a survey or referendum is concealed for privacy purposes. Privacy, while required in many circumstances, can engender fraud as the information which it is designed to protect cannot be readily verified. Further, referendum results may also be used to promote a product or a service. Excessive use of such referendum results has diluted their effectiveness as the recipients of such advertising effort have grown accustomed to the advertising.
It is also not uncommon for advertisers to use generic photographs to represent their products, which over time, also dilutes the effectiveness of their advertising effort. The subjects in these photographs are typically actors who are not necessarily endorsing the products which they appear with. In rare cases, photographs which associate voters with their votes (referendum answers) and the referendums they are voting exist. However, such associations are done manually on an ad hoc basis. Such associations carry little weight as an advertising tool as they represent the opinions or choices of a few individuals. In order to increase the impact of such advertising, the number of images showing association of voters and the referendums they voted for will need to be increased.
One solution to increase the use of images lies in the ability to process the images automatically. In addition, automatic processing typically improves accuracy over manual processing as manual identification of a person's face can be erroneous.
There are no existing systems which create automatic associations of voters, their votes and the referendums they voted for.
Furthermore, votes are typically submitted one at a time. There are no existing systems that are capable of receiving multiple votes as a group and parsing these votes into respective voters, their corresponding votes and the referendum the voters voted for. In addition to conveying a stronger message to a viewer, capturing multiple votes at once aids in building the size of a statistical pool as votes are added much more quickly with less effort.
U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2009/0029725 discloses a method for responding to an advertisement using a mobile device. FIG. 6 of publication '725 illustrates an embodiment in which members of the public are requested to vote for their preferred contestant. As the name or photograph of contestant appears on the television screen, an information element in the form of a two-dimensional barcode also appears on the screen. Viewers are invited to register a vote for a contestant. The barcode has encoded therein three different data components of content: (a) a reply identifying the preferred contestant; (b) content (channel ID) identifying the particular television programme within a series of programmes presenting the same competition; and (c) the standard telephone number to which the content of the information element needs to be communicated for the viewer to register their vote. Although this system facilitates the voting process of a television viewer, a submitted vote is not associated with the face of a voter, thereby lacking the confidence bolstering effect of displaying the identity of a voter alongside his or her vote.
Thus, there arises a need for a visual voting method that reveals the identity of a voter where the voter is automatically identified and the referendum result of the voter is automatically tallied and displayed alongside the identity of the voter on a digital site upon receiving permission for such revelation.